Inter vs. Shakhtar Donetsk, your guide to the game | Latest news
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— Dec 9th 2020Our round-up of news on tomorrow's Champions League fixture
MILAN - We’re fast approaching kick-off for Inter vs. Shakhtar Donetsk on matchday six in the UEFA Champions League. The game at San Siro gets underway tomorrow at 21:00 CET. Here is our round-up of all the news and your guide for the match.
STANDINGS IN GROUP B
Borussia Mönchengladbach currently lead the group on 8 points, followed by Shakhtar and Real Madrid on 7 and Inter on 5. All four teams have the chance to progress to the next round and all four run the risk of elimination.
Inter through with a win and Real vs. Gladbach not ending in a draw.
Inter need to beat Shakhtar in order to reach the Round of 16, but would finish third if they win and the other game in the group ends in a draw. A defeat or a draw would leave the Nerazzurri bottom and out of the Europa League.
Shakhtar would go through with a win and would be top unless Gladbach beat Real. With a draw, the Ukrainian side will finish second if Los Blancos fail to beat the Foals. In case of defeat, Shakhtar would finish bottom, unless Gladbach win in Spain, in which case the Ukrainian side would finish third.
VIDAL UNAVAILABLE
Arturo Vidal is out with a thigh injury and will not play, as Antonio Conte stated in his press conference: “He’s unavailable. Risking him would mean risking this chance of him picking up a bigger injury and we can’t allow that. The situation in midfield isn’t the greatest. We’ll take stock. I try to make choices for the good of Inter and you’ll see them tomorrow.”
FIVE NERAZZURRI ON THE BRINK OF SUSPENSION
Neither side has any player suspender. Though five Inter players are one away from a ban: de Vrij, Bastoni, Gagliardini, Vidal and Barella. No Shakhtar player has picked up two bookings.
SHAKHTAR WITHOUT FERNANDO AND MORAES
Luis Castro will not be able to call upon Fernando or Junior Moraes, who are both out injured. Though Dentinho is back.
Without Fernando, but with Dentinho.
— FC SHAKHTAR ENGLISH (@FCShakhtar_eng) December 8, 2020
⚒🧡 Shakhtar squad list for the @ChampionsLeague decider vs Inter Milan.
🔥 #InterShakhtar game kicks off in Milan at 21:00 CET on December 9th. #UCL pic.twitter.com/SlWxDHhdEE
CASTRO: "WE’LL NEED TO DEFEND WELL"
Shakhtar’s Portuguese head coach in his press conference: “We’re coming up against a really strong side but we’re ready. We’ll certainly need to be alert in defence while trying to attack a bit more than in the reverse fixture.”
FIFTH MEETING BETWEEN INTER AND SHAKHTAR
Inter and Shakhtar have played each other four times. The record reads two Inter wins and two draws.
10/08/2005 Shakhtar Donetsk 0-2 Inter 69' Martins, 80' Adriano 24/08/2005 Inter 1-1 Shakhtar Donetsk 12' Recoba, 25' Elano 17/08/2020 Inter 5-0 Shakhtar Donetsk 19' Martínez, 65' D'Ambrosio, 75' Martínez, 80' Lukaku, 84' Lukaku, 27/10/2020 Shakhtar Donetsk 0-0 Inter
VINCIC TO REFEREE INTER FOR A SECOND TIME
Slovene Slavko Vinčić will referee the game. He has refereed the Nerazzurri once before: Saint-Etienne 1-1 Inter in 2014/15. While he has taken charge of Shakhtar on two occasions: a 2-0 defeat to Celta de Vigo in the Europa League and a 1-1 with Manchester City last season.
Referee: Slavko Vinčić (SVN)Linesmen: Tomaž Klančnik (SVN), Andraž Kovačič (SVN)Fourth Official: Rade Obrenovič (SVN)VAR: Pawel Gil (POL)Assistant VAR: Jure Praprotnik (SVN)
NERAZZURRI TO PLAY IN THEIR HOME STRIP
Inter will play in their classic Black and Blue home strip at San Siro, while the goalkeeper will be in the orange kit. Shakhtar will play in their grey away strip, with the goalkeeper in yellow.
INTER VS. SHAKHTAR ON TV: WHERE TO WATCH
Click here to find out where you can watch the match.